RICHARD FOSTER

Richard Foster, a promoter of contemplative prayer is a student of Thomas Merton. In a previous program we documented that Merton learned his procedures for contemplative prayer from Buddhists and Hindus. So what about Foster? Does he also believe you can Christianize messages from demons?

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Thomas Merton is considered to be one of the founding fathers of contemplative prayer. His writings and ideas have had an impact on many today who are advocating that Christianity embrace the prayer techniques he borrowed from Eastern religion.

Ray Yungen, in his book Time of Departing, documents Merton’s Buddhist and Hindu beliefs. For example, listen to the following statement made by Merton:

It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race,… now I realize what we all are… if only they (people) could all see themselves as they really are… I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other… At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and illusions, a point of pure truth… this little point… is the pure glory of God in us. It is in everybody.[1]

Obviously, such a statement needs little commentary. Anyone who has even a shallow understanding of the Bible knows where this concept comes from. It is the same lie that Satan used to seduce Eve. Anyone who believes that man can be a god has been duped by the God of this world (Genesis 3: 15).

Richard Foster is a disciple of Thomas Merton. He would be considered the most influential and well-known of those considered to be evangelical Christian and supportive of contemplative prayer. Foster considers Merton as his mentor. [2]

Now consider this question: Why would someone who claims to be a Christian, after reading and understanding Merton’s position on Eastern religion, promote his ideas? Worse yet, why is it that when other Christians who have embraced contemplative prayer are informed about this connection, they refuse to listen?

Now listen again to what Richard Foster said about his mentor, Thomas Merton:

Thomas Merton has perhaps done more than any other twentieth-century figure to make the life of prayer widely known and understood… His interest in contemplation led him to investigate prayer forms in Eastern religion. Zen masters from Asia regarded him as the preeminent authority on their kind of prayer in the United States. [3]

Now, I hope you are getting the picture. The promoters of contemplative prayer enthusiastically connect themselves with Zen masters and Eastern religion. What does the Bible say about this? Have you ever read Jeremiah? Have you considered the words of Isaiah?

In the past, when Israel turned their back on the God of the Bible and embraced the gods, the Old Testament prophets pleaded with them to repent and get right with God. Has anything changed? Has God changed His Mind? Contemplative prayer, based on the statements of its founders comes from the East and is pagan in origin. It’s time for professing Christians to make a choice who they want to follow – the God of the Bible or the god of this world.

I am Roger Oakland. This has been a biblical perspective to help understand the times.

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